Dancing slipper



p\ril 19, 1932. B BRQDlCK 1,854,642

DANG ING SLIFPER Filed Sept. 6, 1929 INVENTOR WITNESS ATTORNEY PatentedApr. 19, 1932 srrs T lai) BENJAMIN BROIJCK, OF BRONX, NEW YORK DANCINGSLIPKPER This invention relates to improvements in dancing slippers, andits leading object is to provide a ladys dancing slipper which will beprovided with a quarter adapted to snugly grip the rear part of the footof the wearer and yield to all muscular movements, without causing thebinding rim of the slipper to expand.

Public dancers employ slippers which are l constructed with sti box toesluponwhich various strenuous dancing exercises are e1,- ecuted. In thepast it has been the practice to construct the entire upper of theseslippers with materials which would gradually stretch from use, andwhich failed to hug the foot during the various dancing movements, sothat the support which the dancer relies upon from the slipper was notof a dependable character, causing the slipper to shift about on thefoot and actually work loose and fall off, thus interrupting theexecution of the dance, and sometimes ,causing serious accidents, whengreat muscular effort is being exerted. i

I have discovered that while it is essential that a non-expansible butcontractable rim be provided around the foot opening of the body of theshoe, continued support can be n maintained during all muscular dancing0 movements, by the use of an elastic quarter,

so designed that the slipper will snugly support the foot in all dancingpositions, andk will expand or yield to any internal pressure producedagainst the quarter, and then resume its original condition, bycontracting about the foot when its pressure has been released.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafterspecifically pointed out, or will become apparent, as the specicationproceeds.

With the above indicated objects in view, the invention resides incertain novel constructions and combinations and arrangement of parts,clearly described in the following speciication and fully illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, which latter show an embodiment of theinvention as at 50 present preferred.

sections Ea and Eb are secured by stitching tion.

Tn the drawings,

Figure l is a perspective View ofthe improved dancing slipper, iniioor-toeing position.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail section, f' taken on line 2 2 of Figurel.

Figure 3 is a similar view on a more enlarged scale, taken on line 3-3of Figure l.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

A designates the improved slipper, which is provided with the usual soleB, the toe C in which the usual reinforcing toe boxis inseited, (notshown), the vamp D and the quarter E.

The quarter E is constructed from elastic gore material, and consists oftwo sections Ea and Eb, which are united to each other at the center ofthe heel and at their lower edges to the sole B, as in the commonpractice with turned slippers. Theforward edgesu of the to' the rearedges of the vamp. 75

A non-elastic and substantially non-expandible binding F is folded uponthe upper edge portions of the vamp and the quarter, so as to straddlethe same, and is then stitched so that its terminal end portions Fa areopen. This binding F serves as a flat tube in which the pull cord G isenclosed, with its ends hanging free to be manually pulled and tied.This pull cord is also of non-elastic and sub- ,l stantiallynon-expansible material, so that both the binding and pull cord willeectually resist the tendency of the foot opening to expand beyond thelimits fixed for safely retaining the' slipper upon the foot.

The slipper is positioned on the foot in the usual manner, and the pullcord is drawn and then tied so thatl the binding forthe foot openingwill not expand in its secured posi- Itis understood that this bindingmay be contracted about the foot by the drawing of the pull-cord, butwhen contracted the elastic' quarter will be free to yield in alldirections, expanding and contracting under its own elasticity, tosnugly grip the foot of the wearer in all positions assumed during thestrenuous dancing movements.

One very important feature of the slipper construction as illustrated inthe drawings i? and hereinabove described, is that, when desired, thepull cord or draw string G may be completely omitted, not only duringdancing, but during the operations of putting on and taking olf theslipper. Actual tests have shown that if the binding F benon-stretchable as hereinabove specified, and the vamp and quarter beshaped and joined together and to said binding as hereinabove specified,and if the material for the vamp be the usual material employed in theart (that is, a material with some minute stretch therein, yetsubstantially non-stretchable so far as the eye can detect), and if thematerial for the quarter be the elastic material hereinabove specified,said pull cord or draw string G may be completely omitted, as just aboveexplained, and with the advantages indicated.

The feasibility of omitting the draw string G results also partiallyfrom the fact that the elastic quarter is made of two halves seamedtogether as aforesaid at the middle of the heel, from the binding F tothe sole, that is, from the top to the bottom of th; shoe; and partiallyfrom the factthat the lines of seaming between the front ends of thesequarter sections andthe rear ends of the vamp sides are along lines, asclearly shown in the drawings, which rather sharply rearwardly anddownwardly extend. These two pecularities of construction, incombination with the other features of the slipper, insure, first, thatthe lines of elastic pull rising in the quarter and acting to draw backthe vamp will all originate at the midback of the heel, and, second,that such lines vofpull, on each side of the slipper, will varyinintensity all along the side wall of tlie slipper, due to the obliqueangle of the side seams between vamp and quarter. Due to such variation,said lines of elastic pull will be ofmaximum intensity somewhat morethan half way up the side of the slipper, and hence opposite concavitiesor valleys at the sides of the foot lying just below the protuberancesof the anklebones and just above the sidewardly projected basal fleshmasses at the bottom of the heel. Otherwise stated, the zone of maximumelastic pull will not be at or exceedingly close to the binding F, sincethat is non-stretchable, nor will it be near the sole, for that, too, isrelatively non-stretchable.

The elastic quarter thus provides, in the combination of the presentinvention, a self molding heel support, which maintains full and closecontact with the heel of the wearer, and maintains a reverse tensionagainst the foot muscles, when they are placed under strain, so thatdanger of collapse of the .foot

- during vigorous violent movements will be reducedto a minimum, andpossible severe accidents thus avoided.

rlhe hereinbefore described construction admits of considerablemodification without departing from the invention; therefore, I do notwish to be limited to the precise arrangement shown and described, whichis, as aforesaid, by way of illustration merely. In other words, thescope of protection contenu plated is to be taken solely from theappended claim, interpreted as broadly as is consistent with the priorart.

rIhe elastic gore material is preferably selected of the same color andfinish as the material used in the construction of the vamp, so that,the appearanceof the finished dancing slipper will be of high artisticmerit, and comply with the highest standards of design and finish.

I claim as new A dancing slipper comprising a sole, a toe and vampsecured to the-sole, a quarter secured to the sole and vamp andextending rearwardly from the vamp, saidquarter comprising an elasticgore formed of two sec-l tions joined by a vertical seam at the back ofthe quarter and secured to the vamp by downwardlyv and rearwardlyextending seams upon opposite sides oftheslipper, and a continuous.inextensible flexible binding secured around the entire upper marginaledge portions of the quarter and vamp and adaptf ed to engage the upper;portion of a foot snugly, whereby said binding affords a nonyieldinganchorage to retain the slipper securely upon the foot againstdisplacement while theelastic quarter permits muscular expansion weithinthe slipper duringmovements of the foot in dancing.

In testimony whereof I hereby affix my signature.

BENJAMIN BRODICK.

